The Tale of a Female Outlaw
by Scarlet Rebelle
Summary: It was just her annual trip to her relations that had a liking for renaissance faires. Movie verse.
1. Ariana

Hello everyone. My name is Scarlet Rebelle and I am the author of this story. I hope you enjoy it!

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"Jenkins will see you to the airport in the morning." Ariana's father told her. "Be good for your aunt and uncle."

"Yes, father." Ariana replied dutifully.

"We will miss you, dearest." Her mother said from behind her father, making a big show of wiping away non-existent tears. "But we will see you again after summer break." She stepped forward and brushed the air on either side of Ariana's cheek, careful to not smudge her perfectly painted lips.

"Come, Aubry, the car is waiting." Her father said impatiently.

"Of course. Give your father a kiss good bye, dearest." She flashed Ariana one of her plastic party smiles and Ariana kissed the cheek her father presented her.

"Have a nice trip." She called from the steps as the sleek black car pulled away from the house and down the long tree lined private drive. She watched until the car passed the black iron gate before going back inside to double check her luggage before supper and bed.

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The plane ride was long and uneventful and Ariana was grateful when it finally landed. she walked into the lobby of the airport and was almost immediately assailed by a pair of teenagers.

"Ow, you guys! Get off!" she laughed along with her two cousins as they apologized and helped her up from where they tackled her to the ground.

"We missed you!" Scarlette, her cousin exclaimed.

"I can't believe that you didn't come last year!" her other cousin, Will added.

"It wasn't my dumb idea to get sent to acting camp!" Ariana protested. "My mother thought it would give me more poise." She struck a pose, mimicking her mother and scrunched her nose up, making them laugh.

"Come on, I want to get my bags and get going, I'm tired." All three walked to the carousel to pick up her luggage and transfer it to the car waiting in the parking lot.

"Why didn't you rest on the plane?" Scarlette asked, struggling slightly with the bag she was carrying.

"You know I can't sleep on planes. Besides, it is only 1:00 according to my biological clock." Ariana answered back.

"But you're in first class, its not like coach." Scarlette tried to reason.

"All the same, I just can't." Ariana swung her bag into the back of Will's truck.

"Well, at least if you're tired right now, the time change shouldn't effect you too much." He said, also tossing the bag he was carrying into the truck before helping his twin sister with hers.

The ride to their small village town took a good hour and a half, but riding with her cousin's always made it seem shorter. The hour and a half drive went by swiftly as her cousin's traded stories of British life for stories of her American one. Both were 17, same age as Ariana, and fraternal twins. Their mother had been obsessed with the movie Gone With the Wind when she had seen it while on bed rest during her pregnancy and decided she would name her children after the main characters. Scarlette loved her name, But Will didn't. That is why he went by his middle name, William, after his grandfather, rather than by his real first name, Rhett.

"I'm so glad you're back." Scarlette started off. "Amalie won the archery contest last year because you weren't there…"

"And she's been lording it over everyone ever since." Will finished for his sister, they were forever completing each other's sentences.

Ariana's aunt and uncle loved reenactments and renaissance faires. There was a huge three day long faire right at the beginning of the summer and Ariana always joined them in going. The past seven years she won the archery contest, except last year.

Her relations weren't as wealthy as Ariana's parents, but they where a tight knit family and Ariana would have given up every penny of her future inheritance if her parents where more like her aunt and uncle.

Soon their house came into view and her aunt came out the front door to embrace her as they pulled up in front of it.

"Aria! How have you been? My have you grown, I'll have to find you a different outfit for the faire tomorrow, that old one won't fit you anymore. Have you had anything to eat? I made those cinnamon rolls you love so much. Though you should probably have something a bit more substantial and save those for the morning. Don't worry about your luggage, I'm sure Will wouldn't mind bringing it up to your room." Her Aunt Sarah kept up the chatter as she ushered Ariana inside, the door shutting just after she heard Will groan behind her and she had to stifle a giggle.

Aunt Livia sat her down at the well worn oak table and set a plate with a turkey sandwich and chips in front of her. "Here you are dear. Eat up, you are much too skinny." Ariana had just taken a large bite when her uncle walked in.

"Where is my favorite niece?" he called. Ariana smiled up at him as he came into the room and he gave her one of his famous bear hugs, he smelled of hay and horses.

"I'm your only niece." She mock scowled at him. "How's Caramel?" she asked after her favorite horse, a four year old mare, bay with a white blaze.

"Very sore about you not coming last year." He teased.

"Not you too!" She complained. "Will and Scatlette have been bugging me about that the whole way here."

"But I'm sure if you apologized real nice like, she'd be willing to let you take her out for a nice little run." He handed her a small bag of sugar cubes, Caramel's favorite treat with a wink and a grin.

"I may just do that." Ariana replied with a of her own and pocketed the bag.

Half an hour and a full belly later Ariana was racing through the English country side on Caramel's back, relishing the feel of the air rushing over her skin.

She was surprised when she came upon the small spring atop the hill that overlooked the faire grounds from a distance. She could envision the tents and pavilions, she saw where the market would be, the sword fighting ring, the jousting lists and her favorite, the archery range.

With a start, Ariana noticed the sun's rays stretching to touch the tops of the trees. After a quick drink from the icy spring for herself and Caramel, Ariana checked the tack to make sure it was still properly secured, mounted and pointed Caramel towards her relatives home. She urged the horse to beat the sun and promising her the rest of the sugar cubes if she did.

Ariana slowed when the barn came into view to allow Caramel to cool down. They reached the barn the same time the long shadows of the treetops did. Ariana led Caramel to her stall, removed the tack, rubbed her down and made sure she was settled in for the night with enough feed and water before heading towards the house and paused at the sight before her.

Her tow cousins, aunt and uncle could clearly be seen through the large bay window at the back of the house, they each had a hand of cards they were all laughing and talking. Ariana smiled a smile that she would be with these wonderful people for the rest of the summer, she really did love them.

She retracted some of the sentiment the moment she set foot inside. Her aunt descended on her with arms full of cloth. "There you are, sweets. We need to see which one of these outfits will fit you for tomorrow, I'm afraid that two years have made you grow, in more ways then one, that lovely piece you wore two years past simply will not fit. Here," she shoved the first little bundle into Ariana's arms and spun her towards the bathroom with a little push. "try this on."

The dress was pretty and deep gray. But Ariana couldn't lace the back all the way closed and stepped from the bathroom with a sheepish grin.

"Oh, no. that will not do at all, try this one." Another outfit was shoved into her arms and she was once again spun towards the bathroom. It took seven different changes of clothing before her aunt was satisfied. This year, instead of her usual lady-like dress, Ariana was going to be a gypsy, which she had no trouble with, these sleeves would not get in the way of her bow.

By that time it was quarter after ten and since the whole family would start out early in the morning, they all said their good nights and went to bed.

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That morning, Ariana was rudely awoken by her cousins turning over her mattress. She groaned, she should have remembered the first morning ceremony of "Ariana dumping". She pushed herself up off the floor and chased them down to the table where aunt Livia was just setting out a plate of fresh waffles; which made Ariana forget her cousins and dig in. Waffles were her favorite breakfast food, and she always smothered them in whip cream and strawberries. After three waffles, all similarly smothered, she was sent up to her room to change into her faire clothes. She was just done changing when a knock came on the door of her little bedroom.

"Ana?" Scarlette poked her head around the door. "Oh, good you're dressed, I was supposed to give you these to go with your outfit. You look great by the way." Ariana spread her arms and looked down at the deep blue skirt and whitish beige peasant shirt that stopped just before dropping off her shoulders and with laces going three inches down the front.

"Thanks." Ariana took the jewelry Scarlette was holding out to her, numerous, thin, gold colored bangles for her wrists, gold hoop earrings and a delicate gold chain with what looked like an old coin hanging from it.

"You look quite smashing yourself." Ariana said, slipping on the jewelry.

"Do you think so?" Scarlette had on a princessly dress that matched her name and it was trimmed in gold thread. "I was wondering if you could help me with my hair, you always seem to be able to make it behave." Scarlette threw her cousin a beseeching look.

"Sit down." Ariana pointed to a chair in front of the quaint little vanity set against one wall. Scarlette beamed and did as Ariana said. Ariana twisted and clipped her cousin's hair into an intricate design and sighed.

"What are you so down about?" Scarlette inquired Ariana's reflection in the mirror.

"Just wish I had hair as nice as you." She continued working on the hairdo.

"What?!" Scarlette stared at her. "I know hordes of people who would kill for hair like yours. Its so thick and pretty."

Ariana picked up one of her locks of elbow length hair. It was brown and slightly wavy with a healthy sheen to it. "Its not as nice as your perfectly blond locks." She sighed.

"Blond would most likely make you look washed out and would clash terribly with your eyes." Scarlette reminded her and she had to agree. Blond definitely would not go with her darker skin, courtesy of some Spanish ancestor, or with her eyes the color of amber.

"Whatever. Your hair is done, lets get going before we make everyone late." Ariana grabbed Scarlette's hand and pulled her off the chair.

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Well, that's it so far, what did you think?


	2. Ye Olde Faire

**enchantedwriter72:** Thank you for the lovely review! I will try to keep updating, but I have been neglecting my other fan fic, and I need to finish that one before really laying into this one, I hope you will be patient.

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The faire grounds were a bustle of activity. In every direction there was another sight to capture your attention; hawkers were setting up their shops and others were already calling out their wares to passerbys, knights in their heraldic colors paying court to ladies from atop their handsome, battle ready steeds. Jesters, fools and performers of every kind plied their trade, a multitude of colors sounds and smells mixed for an amassing effect and the renaissance faire board of directors wouldn't have it any other way. The beginning of summer faire was the biggest one all year, and they always went all out. Ariana smiled. She could almost imagine herself transported 800 years back in time. She pushed her forest green cloak behind her shoulders, the material swinging to her step.

"Will!" she cried over the noise, spotting the sandy blond head reaching above the average height of the crowd. She weaved her way towards him "Will!" she said when she reached his side. "Come on, the woman's quarterstaff competition is starting soon and Scarlette is in the first round!" But he didn't seem to hear her, he was gazing at a pretty red head selling apples at one of the market stalls. "Ah, that's right, Chloe's back from her studies abroad. Planing on making your move this year?"

At the girl's name, Will had regained his hearing and flushed almost as red as the girl's hair and mumbled something.

Ariana eyed him for a moment. "Right, anywho, Scarlette, quarterstaff, ring a bell?"

Will shot her a slightly startled look and they raced each other tot the sword fighting ring which was currently being used for the quarterstaff matches. They arrived just in time to see Scarlette duck what would have been a devastating blow as she knocked her opponent's feet out from under them. Scarlette then forcefully twirled her staff against the other girl's, causing it to go flying and she pointed the staff under the girl's chin, a small smile at her victory.

Will and Ariana cheered as Scarlette was announced winner of the first round and the next set was called. Scarlette joined them on the sidelines and they discussed and studied the techniques and style of the other opponents, Scarlette making mental notes for future matches.

After participating in four more matches, Scarlette was in the semifinals when her opponent knocked her knees from under her and placed her staff on her neck, defeating Scarlette.

"You've been training." Ariana said approvingly as Scarlette rejoined them.

"Apparently not hard enough." Scarlette replied with a short shrug.

"Still that's the farthest I have ever seen you get. I bet you'll make finals next year, probably even win that too."

"Perhaps."

They all watched the final match before braking for lunch on a grassy stretch of ground between the fringes of the faire grounds and the edge of the forest.

"It's haunted you know." Will said nonchalantly around a mouthful of sandwich.

Ariana rolled her eyes as Scarlette squeaked. "H-haunted? Wh-what's haunted?"

"The forest." Will replied gesturing vaguely behind them, causing Scarlette to whirl around and fearfully scan the trees.

"There is no such thing as ghosts, spirits or specters. Stop scaring Scarlette." Ariana shot Will a glare.

"But a mate of mine from school saw them. Pale and near transparent, carrying all sorts of menacing weapons, dripping with-"

"Will!" Ariana cut in, Scarlette was shaking.

He turned innocent eyes towards her, but she saw the carefully veiled humor and mischievous glint in them. "Alright," Ariana accepted his unspoken challenge and stood up, shaking her shirt to free it of any clinging grass and lunch crumbs. "Stand up." she commanded her cousins.

"What are we doing?" Scarlette asked, also shaking out her skirts.

"We are going into those woods so that I can prove to you that they are not haunted, and that there is no such thing as ghosts or evil spirits."

"No, no no no no." Scarlette had already started backing away, shaking her head.

"Why, you're not afraid, are you?" Will slyly asked his twin.

"Of course not!" Scarlette snapped a tad too quickly.

"Then, after you, sister, dear." Will performed a courtly bow gesturing grandly to the forest. Scarlette marched towards the trees her back stiff.

"That was beyond cruel, Will." Ariana growled

He winced and grabbed at his chest. "Dear cousin, you wound me, surely as if you had shot me with one of your arrows."

Ariana scowled at him before rushing to catch up with Scarlette, who had turned pale upon her first footfall beyond the first tree. She jumped when Ariana touched her arm, but to her credit, didn't scream.

"Hey, you ok?" Ariana asked in a soft voice.

"Sure, no such thing. Right?" Scarlette's voice wavered.

"No such thing." Ariana confirmed with a nod.

"Then what's there to be afraid of?" Scarlette's smile shook and her eyes were filled with uncertainty, but she squared her shoulders and moved further into the forest, Ariana beside her.

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Ariana was quite enjoying herself. The forest floor was lined with old fallen leaves, wild flowers bloomed in sunny patches, adding a delicate scent to accompany the slight smell of damp and decaying leaves their steps stirred. Songs of birds, both familiar and not, occasionally filled the air.

"Isn't this nice?" she asked Scarlette after about five minutes.

"I suppose it is rather pleasant." Scarlette conceded, her stiffness leaving her by small measures.

The girls were crouched down, studying an unfamiliar flower when it happened; he came out of nowhere, making them scream and nearly jump out of their skin.

"Ah ha ha ha ha!" Will doubled over in laughter. "Oh, you should have seen your faces, priceless." He managed after a few moments of snorts and gasps for breath. He stood up, mirth replaced with apprehension from the murderous looks on the girls' faces. "Um, sorry?" he tried before taking off, Ariana and Scarlette chasing him.

"You're in for it now, Rhett William Carlyle!" Scarlette yelled, pulling ahead of Ariana.

A small embankment crumbled under Ariana, causing her to tumble down a small ravine, branches and twigs whipping at her skin and grabbing at her hair before coming to a pain filled stop at a tree, she was sure her shoulder would be one massive bruise. Sitting up, she grabbed at her shoulder, cradling it against the pain, a wince made her hand fly to a sting on her cheek, her fingers came away bloody. Painfully she pushed herself to her feet, groaning at all her numerous bumps, bruises and cuts. She retied the deep blue strip of cloth that had come loose, it matched her gypsy skirt and served as a headband and made her way the seven or so feet up the steep side of the ravine. Thankfully she hadn't twisted an ankle, though one did have a nice little bruise starting to show.

Some how the forest seemed less inviting. Birds weren't singing and a cloud had passed over the sun.

"Scarlette? Will?" she asked into the silence. "Scarlette! Will!" still no answer.

An eerie, windy noise made her turn. Hollow reeds hung from a tree, brilliant. "Very funny, you guys. Guys?"

Silence.

"Fine, be that way. I will find you eventually." She headed in the direction she had last seen her cousin's running, occasionally calling out their names. "Scarlette! Will! Scarlette!" each attempt went unanswered.

She paused on the bank of a river. "Wow." She breathed, then frowned. She searched for a long straightish stick, finding one she slipped off her designer sandals that went remarkably well with her costume, she didn't want to ruin them by getting them wet. Her sandals dangling from her left hand while holding the stick in both hands, she gingerly stepped onto the first of the rocks spanning the breadth of the river. Carefully, she hopped onto the next one and two more after that, using the stick to maintain her balance. But at that rock, she realized she would have to wade a bit, for there was a gap between the exposed rocks. She used the stick to test the depth. She smiled when it wasn't too deep. Bending, she picked up her skirt and looped it over her harm so it wouldn't get wet, then she slid into the knee high water.

Suddenly, Ariana's feet were swept from under her and with a short cry of surprise she splashed into the river. She came up sputtering and heard a throaty chuckle.

"Will!" she yelled. "You just wait till I get my hands on you!"

"I can hardly wait, milady." Answered an amused male voice that most definitely wasn't her cousin's.

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yes, I am aware that I used you at the beginning of this chapter. Yes, I know it is bad grammar for writing. But I always thought that using "one" instead of "you" sounded real impersonal. Mebbe I'm weird, mebbe it's the movie the bicentennial man. But I write like I like.

READER POLL:

Should Will and Scarlette still be in the story? What do you think? Should Robin already be part of the Merry men?


	3. Scarlet's Note to Readers

**Giraffe Attack:** Thank you! I hope you continue to read. And thanks for the input!

**Enchantedwriter72**: thanks for you patience. And I always enjoy getting feedback on my stories.

**LilyJames addict**: thank you so much for your input!

**The-Lonely-Child:** this is supposed to be movie verse: Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, as it is the only Robin Hood I've seen (besides a middle school play over a half century ago…) and I only know of one Will from the movie. But Ariana is yelling at her cousin.

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I am sorry to tell you that this is not a real update, rather a note. I now have a full time job and do not know when I will be able to update again. That does not mean that I am giving up on my story, though it does mean even greater delays on updates.

Sorry.

-Scarlet


	4. Outlaws

Ah! Did I just not abandon you guys for longest time? Let me just say sorry about that, but I had the biggest writers block in history.

**Lauren**: thank you!

**Herbblade:** hmmm… not sure whether to take as a compliment or not… I'll go for compliment, so thanks!

**Evilramen:** sorry to tell you, but I think you should have fair warning, I tend to leave cliffys.

**xforgottenxmemoriesx:** thank you for the vote of confidence, and sorry it took so long, but here is the update.

I believe I forgot to do this before; Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters, lines, ect. In the preceding and following chapters. Any resemblance to any other story, place, or person is purely coincidental and not intended.

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Will Scarlet dozed against the trunk of a tree, his arms crossed over his chest. Why did he get stuck with river duty? Oh, right, he wanted to get away from rich pretty boy back at camp. But why didn't he volunteer to go hunting or gathering instead? Hardly anybody passed through the woods any more. The stories they had spread of evil spirits haunting the forest were almost working too well. The stillness of the forest morning combined with constant bubbling of the river and scattered sounds of birds never failed to soothe and relax Will. His eyelids grew heavy and he began to nod off. He was nearly asleep when something roused him. He shook his head free of cobwebs and sat up straighter, trying to discern what seemed out of place.

After a few moments he heard a sound. Faint, but not belonging to the woods of Sherwood. As he listened the noise grew louder as it approached him. Soon, Will recognized the noise as a voice calling out at irregular intervals. It wasn't more then a few minutes before he could hear what the voice was saying, and he nearly fell over in shock. "Scarlet, Will, Scarlet! Where are you?" a feminine voice called and Will crouched beside the tree, watching the river.

A short time later, a young woman emerged from the trees and Will could clearly see her. Long, dark hair with large eyes and a deeper tone to her skin. She was dressed as a gypsy, Will couldn't remember ever actually knowing a gypsy, but the important thing was that she had gypsy jewelry, gold jewelry.

Will watched as she got ready to cross the river, gaping slightly when she hooked her skirt over her arm, exposing a stretch of legs, before slipping into the water, not even gypsy girls usually did that! The moment she had both feet in the water, Will tugged hard on his rope and made his way to the bank of the river. He watched in amusement as she came up sputtering and soaking wet.

"Will!" she shouted, furious. "You just wait till I get my hands on you!"

"I can hardly wait, milady." Will answered and crossed his arms over his chest, amused.

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Ariana spun and faced the young man standing on the far bank of the river with a high pitched scream, which caused the man to wince slightly. "Sorry about that." She placed a hand over her racing heart. "You startled me."

"I get that a lot, being an outlaw and all." The man gave her an easy smile.

"An outlaw?" she gasped, starting to shiver from the cool air hitting her wet skin.

"Of Sherwood Forest." He executed a short bow.

Ariana gave him a quizzical look before bursting out in laughter. She forced herself to calm down until she was merely giggling softly and looked at the man standing on the river's bank. He was giving her a deeply concerned look. "Are you quite alright?" he asked clearly confused.

"An outlaw of Sherwood Forest?" she giggled. "Who put you up to this? Will? Scarlette? I bet it was Will, wasn't it?" she asked.

"I don't know what you are talking about." He told her.

"You can really drop the act, you know." She said to him as she climbed atop a rock that was just showing above rivulets of water and wrung out her hair. "No sense in carrying on."

"Act?" he asked surprised. "I'm not acting."

Ariana let loose a sigh. "Fine. But let me tell you, I don't like doing this."

"Doing wha-" he went still as stone when she dropped her possessions, pulled an arrow from the quiver hanging at her waist and drew on him in little more than the blink of an eye.

"They are watching us right now, aren't they?" Ariana was certain that her cousins were hiding and getting a good laugh at her expense. "If you don't want your friend to be turned into a pincushion for my arrows, I suggest you come out now!" Ariana bluffed, calling to the surrounding woods.

There was a collective shout and about eight men all dressed in medieval looking tatters of clothing appeared on either side of the bank. The shout had startled Ariana, making her jump and loose her arrow. It grazed the cheek and nicked the ear of the man she had been talking to.

"She shot me!" he said in disbelief placing a hand to his slowly bleeding cheek. Ariana stared in shock, she had never shot a living thing and the sight of blood caused by her arrow was repulsive to her eyes. She was drawn out of her reverie when someone grabbed her bow out of her hands as another roughly bound her hands behind her. She was also relieved of her quiver right before she was blindfolded and was forced to stumble along in the dark as her captors led her deeper into the forest.

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Ariana was callously shoved to the ground, her bruised shoulder hitting the trunk of a tree, making her cry out.

"Quiet, you!" one of the men commanded and smacked her upside the head. Ariana put her back to the tree and pulled her knees up to her chin. Slowly, as to not attract attention, Ariana extracted her knife from its sheath at her wrist and started on her bonds. Just as she felt the first knot give way the blindfold was pulled from her eyes and Ariana found herself looking into the tattooed face of a moor.

"Who are you people?" she whispered, not quite masking her fear.

"One so young should not wander alone." His accented words were kind as he held up a wooden cup. "For when you are finished." His eyes twinkled as he set the cup down near her before his attention was captured by the cry of 'Rider coming!' and he rushed to where a man was dismounting a beautiful white horse. "Water!" Ariana heard the moor call before returning her attention to cutting the rest of the rope binding her hands. With the attention of the camp centered on the rider, Ariana worked harder with less fear of discovery.

Suppressing a shout of victory when the last rope fell away, Ariana slid her knife back into place and gingerly rubbed her wrists where the rope had rubbed raw her flesh. She picked up the cup and sniffed it before taking a small sip. Discovering it was only water she gratefully downed it before turning her attention back to the scene which was unfolding before her.

"You fool!" the young man from the river said. "You started a war!"

"We're already at war." The rider replied before crouching down by an old man and handing him a round loaf of bread before standing back up. "And I say we strike back at the very man who takes are homes and would hunt our children." He pointed at a boy of about eleven years of age.

"We?" a large, tall man with a bushy beard questioned. "You planin' on joinin' us then matey?"

"No, to lead you." The other man said very matter of factly.

Ariana walked towards the moor coming close enough to hear what he said to the rider. "Christian, these are simple people. They are not warriors. Be careful that you do not do this for your own purposes."

"You forget yourself, Azeem. I do not ask for your company or counsel." He said before walking off.

"Azeem, was it?" Ariana asked when the moor turned towards her. "Thank you for the drink." She held the cup towards him. "I'm afraid I don't know where this goes."

"It is alright, young one." He took the cup.

"Thanks again, I have a feeling I'll be saying that a lot." She smiled.

"You!" The man from the river seemed to notice her "How did you get loose?"

Ariana rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not completely incompetent, you know." She headed for the woods. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be leaving this altered reality."

"Hold up there, lass. We can't be lettin' you go an' tellin' the sheriff where we be, now can we?" the big bearded man said.

"Oh, my word. You're really wanted men? You were telling the truth?" Ariana's eyes grew large.

"Why would we be lyin' about it?" the bearded man answered back.

"I'm stuck in the woods with a bunch of wanted men, probably insane, to boot." She muttered to herself before a plan of escape popped into her head. One of the men was attending to the horse, and not doing a very good job of it. But that's not what she was concerned about. She ambled her way over to him and asked as innocently as she could. "Could I hold him? Certainly it would be easier to take care of him if you didn't need to hold his reigns the whole time."

"Thank you." The man blithely handed her the reigns.

"Big boy, pretty boy." Ariana cooed at the horse, letting him smell her. "You look like a powerful thing. I bet you're fast aren't you, boy? Shall we see?" she whispered the last bit and flipped the reigns over the horses head and swung onto his back before anyone could stop her. She urged the horse as fast as she dared through the trees, swiftly coming to and crossing the river. She passed through the forest in a matter of minutes when it seemed to take al least half an hour before. Emerging from the forest, Ariana pulled up sharply.

Before her was the rolling landscape where the faire was supposed to be. Where she had planned to find her cousins waiting for her. But it was totally barren. She stared, the realization slowly penetrating her brain: this is real. Tears fill her eyes.

Before too long, a pair of horses pulled up along side her. "Will you come on your own or-" the rider stopped short on seeing her tears. "What troubles you?"

"I'll come." Ariana conceded. "For I have no where else to go." They turned their horses back to the cool shadow of the forest.

"I'm Ariana, by the way." She told him, sticking out her hand for him to shake.

"A pleasure, Miss Ariana." He took her hand and kissed it. Ariana blushed. "Robin of Locksly."

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And there you have the 3rd installment of my story, I know it's shortish, but full of goings on.

I'm still not sure if I should include the cousins in this story, so I would enjoy some input!


	5. Horses

**The-Lonely-Child:** the version I am working from is Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves I'm not sure if that is the one you've seen, but it is the version I am the most familiar with.

**LilyJames addict:** thanks for your input, I always enjoy feedback, it is always helpful. As for her love interest, or if she will even have one? Well, we'll just have to wait and see.

**Giraffe Attack:** Thanks!

**Enchantedwriter72:** thanks for the feedback!

**AliKernschatten:** feed back, always a good thing!

**AKAFredandGeorge:** Yeah, yeah. I'm working on it, really…

**Emz:** thank you! Can't wait to see how your's turns out

**Sasha Arai:** I guess you'll just have to wait and see just like all the other readers. Sorry hun.

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Ariana dismounted the large horse and carefully striped him of his tack and rubbed him down, this is something she knew and understood. About the only thing she understood just about now. He rest of her world had turned upside down. It had, in fact disappeared. And for all she knew she was stuck in this place. With people who were; insane, insanely good actors, or the actual thing, where if that was the fact, she was quite sure _she_ would go insane, if she wasn't already.

Ariana made a final once over on the horse, taking extra care to check his hooves, she then hobbled the horse and let it graze on the ground ferns or any sparse grass it might find on the forest floor. Finally, she turned to face the eyes she had felt on her back since she got back to camp.

Robin of Locksley and the moor, Azeem, were watching. "You seem to know horses." Robin said.

Ariana shrugged. "My uncle used to raise a whole bunch of them. I would spend my summers on the farm, helping out."

"Just the summers?"

"Yeah, the rest of the year I was at home with my parents, or rather at their place. I didn't see them much, me being at school and them being out most nights. I was more or less raised by the staff rather then my own parents."

"You are educated?" Robin seemed surprised. "Your parents must be people of standing. Tell me who they are, perhaps I have heard of them."

"Doubtful." Ariana said, sitting down on a fallen log. "Looks like I'm stuck here." She said glancing around her. "Sure looks like you could use the help."

"Aye, that we could lassie." The big burly man said and tossed me some skins. "That horse drank most of our water. There is a small stream a little that way." He waved his hand in a general direction. Ariana picked up the skins and nodded, hurrying to get the water.

At the stream, Ariana paused before dunking the first skin, sunk to her knees and studied her reflection staring back at her. She hadn't changed. Same brown hair, same tanned skin and same gold toned eyes. Everything had changed around her, but she remained the same. Ariana didn't know how long she had been staring into the stream when a noise caught her attention. She looked in the direction of the noise, but a bush blocked her vision, she peeked through the bush. With a soft huff of breath, she stepped around it.

"You know, it'll never heal properly if you keep poking at it like that." She said and the man from the river whipped his head around.

"Come to gloat?" he asked bitterly as he turned back to the river, studying the cut on his cheek, poking at different spots, each poke drawing a hiss from his mouth.

"No." Ariana drew the word out a bit, watching him. "And stop hurting yourself!" she grabbed his hand, not able to watch any longer.

He jerked his hand back.

"Here, let me have a look." She crouched down beside him and drew his hands down, away from his face. "Hmm." Ariana took out her knife and cut a small section from the trailing ends of her scarf-turned-headband, dipping it in the water. "This could sting a little bit." She warned as she gently cleaned the cut. "You're lucky, you know." She told him.

"Oh, and how is that? I wasn't aware that by nearly being killed by an unskilled little girl is considered luck."

Ariana stopped and glared at him. "One; I am not unskilled, I am quite good, thank you very much. Your friends merely surprised and startled me into releasing my arrow. Two; I was talking about your cut, many girls find a scar rather dashing."

"A scar? You scarred me?" he asked indignantly.

"Relax. It was a clean cut, and not too deep. It will be a rather faint scar. I have to get these back to camp." She said, picking up the water skins.

"You might want to fill them first." He called after her.

Ariana turned around the bush that had blocked him from view earlier and, face flushing, filled the skins before hurrying back to camp. Once she got there, she emptied them into a makeshift trough that seemed to be where everyone got their water. Looking around, she noticed that the sun was farther in the sky and her stomach was protesting, loudly. At the sound of laughter, she blushed and turned, pushing her hand against her stomach in an attempt to silence it. Behind her, Robin was standing with a brace of rabbits.

"Do you know how to cook?" he asked holding the animals out towards her. Ariana took them, this is another thing she knew. Will and Uncle Henry loved to go hunting and she would sometimes help Aunt Livia clean and cook the game they brought home. Ariana knelt by a fallen tree, pulled out her knife and expertly skinned and gutted them, tossing the entrails and organs into a nearby fire.

"Why'd you do that?" Robin asked her. "Those were perfectly edible."

"The taste of them is awful, besides the smell of then would attract wolves, burning them is the quickest way to be rid of the smell." She looked up at him, something catching her eye. "Watch these a second." She got up and gathered some leaves from a nearby shrub. "Perfect." She said, returning and stuffing them inside the rabbits after rinsing them in some water.

"What was that for?" Robin asked.

"It's just some sage and sweet grass. You know, flavoring, to make it taste better?"

"The Arabs knew much of spices, though I did not know of any that grew in England."

"You'll love it." Ariana smiled up at him, spitting the rabbits.

Half an hour later, the rabbits were done, if a little burned on the outside. "I probably should have mentioned that I'm not the best cook." Ariana apologized with a small grimace. Though the men that ate it still complimented her on it.

Embarrassed, Ariana went to check on the horse, which she decided to name Sugar, running along the same lines as Carmel. Not to mention the horse had a sweet and mild temperament. She had already named the other two horses in the camp. The black one was licorice and the brown, chocolate. At least, that is what she called them in her head. Finding a brush among the too small pile of supplies for the horses, she started to brush Sugar. Smiling as he shivered with pleasure as she stroked his coat until it gleamed. She started to hum one of her favorite tunes, one her nanny used to sing to her when she was little. It always reminded her of happy days spent playing in the nursery. But this time, instead of lifting her spirits, the song turned her nostalgic. She buried her face in Sugar's mane and let loose the tears that stung her eyes.

"You prefer the company of horses, lady." The voice behind her made Ariana jump. She quickly swiped at the tears on her face and turned around with a smile, too aware that her face would still bear the signs of her tears, but hoping the fading light would hide the fact.

"They are great listeners."

Robin smiled. "Come, it is warm by the fire." He held out his hand towards her. "And nights can get cold out here."

Ariana smiled. "Thank you, but if it is all the same to you, I'd rather get some sleep. It has been a rather eventful day."

"Of course. But if you change your mind-"

"I'll follow the glow to the fire." Ariana finished for him.

"Good night, Lady Ariana." He gave her a slight bow.

"Good night." Ariana automatically responded. "Oh, and Robin?" she called after him. "It's just Ariana, no lady required."

"As you wish." He grinned and gave her another bow. Ariana grinned back and turned to find a good place to spread her cloak.

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Right, so that was a bit short…


	6. New Arrivals

**Triskelesque:** yeah, I know, I wasn't really satisfied with the chapter either. Though I thought it turned out ok for my seriously depleted imagination. I think I need a vacation…

**LilyJames** **addict**: well, you'll just have to read to find out how it all turns out, huh?

**Enchantedwriter72**: I'm sorry if it sounded unrealistic to you, but being able to identify fresh herbs is something I can do, so it didn't sound too far fetched to me.

**AliKernschatten**: yes, I agree, it wasn't much in moving the plot along, just a little development for the characters. And thank you for the feed back on Ariana, I am trying to make her seem realistic, even though I do tend to write MS type OCs, even when I'm not trying to…

**AlienaCooper: **thanks so much!

**Awsomefairyfire: **I am updating, though, as I said before, it will take longer, as I want to finish my other fic first.

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Ariana woke to birds chirping in the early morning sun. With a slight frown, she sat up and looked around, yesterday's events flooding her head. Feeling the familiar tears pricking the back of her eyes, Ariana briefly closed her eyes and shook her head, she wouldn't wallow uselessly in self-pity. She would find a way to get home. Looking around, she noticed the camp wasn't fully awake yet. With a shake of her head, Ariana stood up, shook out her cloak to free it of any clinging leaves or dirt, hung it over a low hanging branch and grabbed the water skins, she figured that it was one thing the camp could always use.

At the bank, Ariana paused. "What have you gotten yourself into this time, Ari?" she asked her reflection. No reply was forthcoming, not that she truly expected one. With a frustrated sigh, she plunged the first skin under the water and started to fill it.

Swinging the last water skin's strap over her shoulder, Ariana stood with a slight grunt, sure, she had noticed more skins than she had yesterday, but she didn't expect them to be so heavy!

A laugh made her turn rather sharply, the added weight of the skins making her stumble a little. After a short scramble to remain standing Ariana glared at the man standing before her. "Sure, laugh it up, river boy." She grumbled. He stopped laughing, but humor still shone plainly.

"I saw you leaving camp and thought you might need help carrying the skins." He stated. Ariana, seeing it as the proverbial olive branch smiled.

"That would be helpful." She slid the skins off one of her shoulders, inadvertently causing the shirt to slip a bit. She handed the skins to him and uncaringly pulled the shirt back up, it had only shown a few inches of her shoulder anyhow. Ariana was busy dividing the other half of skins so that she could carry an equal weight on her shoulders, but when she looked up he was giving her a funny look. "What?"

"Your shoulder… you're hurt." He stammered slightly turning slightly red.

"Yeah. I had a run in with a tree, quite literally." Ariana rolled her shoulder with a grimace. "It's still sore but it will heal in time. Guess we make a fine pair, don't we? Both injured, though more our pride than anything, I think."

He grinned and hefted the water skins Ariana gave him.

"I'm Ariana." Ariana told him after a moment as they walked back to camp.

"I don't recall ever meeting someone named Ariana before." he said after a moment. "So I wonder why you were searching for me by the river."

Ariana stopped and looked at him. "Looking for you?" she repeated. "I wasn't looking for you."

He also stopped and turned towards her. "Then why were you calling my name?" he gave her a quizzical look.

Ariana stared at him for a minute. "I wasn't, I was trying to find my cousins, Will and Scarlette. You haven't happened to see anyone my age around, have you?" Ariana asked hopefully.

"No, I cannot say I have."

"Oh." Ariana hung her head.

A few awkward moments passed before he spoke up. "My name is Will, Will Scarlet."

"You're joking." Ariana looked up at him, replaying the previous day in her head. "Will Scarlet?" a smile played around her lips.

Will glanced at her and grinned, glad to divert her thought if only for the moment. By this time they were almost to camp. Ariana looked up after maneuvering over a fallen log.

"Hey, who are they?" Ariana asked, looking at a group of ragged people, she didn't know everybody in the camp, but she was fairly certain that she was the only woman in the group.

Will looked up, his easy grin fading quickly. "What?" he shoved the water skins at Ariana and walked over to the group.

Others in camp had noticed the new comers and Ariana picked out cries of "Ma!" and "Papa!" as well as the outlaws asking what happened among the general noise.

"Fanny!" the big, burly man called, running up to a woman with orange-red hair.

"Oh, John!" she threw her arms around him.

"They burned it, all of it." A thin man with his shirt ripped nearly all the way down the front was saying as Will walked up to him. "Where is this Robin Hood now?" he asked.

"He's there." Ariana could just hear Will, venom in his voice, and looked to where he pointed, there on the trunk of a gigantic fallen tree, Robin sat, polishing his bow, beside Azeem.

"Look!" the man cried, picking up a boy and turning his face to show the cuts and bruises on the boy's face. "Look what they've done!"

Ariana looked at Robin, Azeem, apparently just finished saying something and jumped down from his perch next to Robin. Ariana couldn't say that she blamed him, what with the angry crowd now headed towards the former lord-turned-outlaw. Will was at the very front of the crowd, seemingly leading them.

"You brought this misery on us, Locksley." He accused and Ariana was surprised at how venom filled his voice that not so long ago was making light jokes.

"It's Nottingham, trying to divide us." Robin replied calmly, still slowly polishing his bow.

"We _are_ divided, rich boy." Will said as Robin scanned the crowd before him. "I'm not as blind as that old man over there. You're still trying to be lord of the manor." Will continued. "I heard today that the sheriff now values your neck at five hundred gold pieces." Robin stopped polishing his bow and looked slightly pleased with himself. "I say we take him in." Will looked back at the newly arrived refugees and there were murmurs of agreement.

"Will, do you think the sheriff will return everything after I'm gone?" Robin asked.

"He'll give us the reward and our pardons." He sounded so sure of himself.

"Wrong." Robin jumped off of the tree. "He'll stretch your necks, one by one." He used his bow to point at them.

"What would you have us do? Fight armored men on horseback with rocks and our bare hands?"

"If needs be." Robin looked at the men for a moment. "But with the one true weapon that escapes you, Will… courage." Robin took a few steps closer to the younger man then moved past him.

Will almost immediately reached for the knife tucked into his belt, preparing to throw it at Robin's unprotected back.

"Look out! Wulf yelled.

"Will, no!" Ariana yelled at the same time.

Robin turned on the spot, an arrow loosing from his bow in one fluid motion.

"Uh!" Will grunted as the arrow pierced his hand. He looked at Robin with disbelief and anger in his eyes before running off, cradling his injured hand. The other men dropped the pieces of wood that they had evidently had thought to use as weapons.

"Thank you, Wulf." Robin ruffled the boy's hair as he walked past the boy then, in a louder voice addressed the crowd. "You wish to end this? You wish to go home?" both questions were met with the affirmative. "Then we must stop fighting amongst ourselves and face that the price for it may be dear." He tossed his bow on the ground and climbed back up on the fallen tree to address the whole crowd. "I for one would rather die than to spend my life in hiding. The sheriff calls us outlaws, but I say we are free. And one free man defending his home is more powerful than ten hired soldiers. The Crusades taught me that." He said, pointing to Azeem, an understanding seeming to pass between the two. "I will make you no promises save one. That if you truly believe in you hearts that you are free, then I say we can win."

"But they got armor!" the one Ariana recognized as the one that had been tending the horse, Sugar, when she had stolen him. The crowd agreed with the man.

"They got armor, Bull?" Robin seemed slightly amused. "Even this boy can be taught to find the chinks in every suit of armor." He motioned to Wulf.

"But we ain't got nothin' to eat!" an old man shouted.

"What do we need that the forest cannot provide?" Robin turned towards the trees behind him. "We have food, wood for weapons, we'll find safety and solace in her trees."

"But what about our kin? The sheriff's taken all that they've got too!" the old man called again.

Robin turned back towards the crowd. "Then, by God, we take it back."

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Yes, I know you all want to kill me for the shortness, and lack of original material near the end there. But I always thought that this was a very good scene and really didn't nee all that much added. I will try to update within a week or possibly two, no promised though.

Now, as it is well past midnight and I have to open shop in the morning, I will attempt to catch a few hours of sleep.


	7. Abrasion

**LilyJames addict: **well, apparently you aren't familiar with the same version of the story that I am familiar with, but I won't give anything away. But trust me it's a good story. Oh, and Robin _just _joined the merry men, and appointed himself leader.

**Enchantedwriter72: **did I ever say you didn't like it? Hmmm, can't remember, oh well, no big. And the whole herb thing? Whatever, most people can't anyhow. Oh and poison ivy? I recognize it, but I am one of those people that doesn't get a reaction from it, soooo anyhow… yeah…

**Chittychat:** thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.

**Hope and Love:** thanks!

**Erebwen:** as I have told my readers, this story is on hiatus until I finish my other. Why I thought I could take on two at the same time is beyond me. I see from your profile that you haven't written anything yourself, perhaps you do not fully grasp how awful a writers' block can be and that discouraging reviews do nothing to help the author in speeding up the process. Though I do admire your skill at so eloquently insulting in so few words.

**I have not yet finished my other fic as of yet, but I am currently at an impasse. So I do not know when this will once again be updated, but I plan on finishing my other one before I concentrate on this one.**

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Ariana followed Will's tracks through the woods, it wasn't too hard, he seemed to be in a little bit of a hurry and quite frequently dragged his feet, making lines in the old leaves covering most of the ground. The tracks led her to the river, where Will was examining his hand. Ariana sat down next to him on the riverbank, placing the bundle she had gathered next to her.

"What do you want?" he growled out.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright, I mean besides the arrow." She quickly amended when she saw him sneer. "Here." She said after a moment, reaching for his hand, which he quickly pulled back, protectively cradling it next to his chest. "I won't hurt it, I just want a look." She coaxed. Slowly, Will relaxed his defensive behavior allowed her to inspect his injured hand. Ariana silently ran over what she had learned of first aide in health class. "I can help." She said slowly. "But it _will _hurt, badly." She looked up into Will's pain-filled eyes. He studied her for a moment, then nodded.

"Do it." He said through clenched teeth. Ariana nodded and turned back to her bundle, which turned out to be a clean shirt wrapped up in her cloak. "Where did you get that?" Will asked, still gritting his teeth against the pain. Ariana shrugged.

"It just happened to be hanging from a branch." She sounded nonchalant as she sliced it to strips with the knife from her wrist sheath.

Will stared at her for a moment before letting out a laugh. "You stole it? I do think you found the right camp, Ariana."

"More like stumbled upon it." She mumbled with a blush, as dipped one of the strips into the cold water and gently cleaned as much blood as she could from the hand without actually touching the shaft of the arrow. "I'll have to cut the arrow." Ariana explained as she wrapped more strips around the arrow to steady it, then she took her knife and as gently as possible sawed through the arrow shaft, tossing the end to the side. Folding two strips she handed one to Will. "Once I pull this out, press this to the back of your hand." She instructed to Will.

"How do you know so much about healing?" Will asked her.

"This is going to hurt." She said in lieu of an answer, grabbing the arrow shaft and carefully, so not to further aggravate the wound, pulled it out of his hand.

"AH!" Will yelled, grabbing his wrist, Ariana, quickly caught his folded strip, and pressed to the back of his hand as she pressed her own into his palm.

"Will, hold this!" Ariana commanded, taking his hand and placing it on the back of his hand then took the remaining strips and proceeded to tightly wrap his hand. "There, that is the best I can do." She said, tying off the last strip.

Will stared at his bandaged hand, then tried to wiggle his fingers.

"Try not to move it too much." Ariana said as he winced. Will looked up.

"A little late, don't you think?" he sneered.

Ariana stared at him for a moment, affronted, then stiffly nodded and stood up, swinging her cloak around her shoulders.

"Wait!" Will called. Ariana stopped and turned to look at him, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. Will looked down with a sigh. "Thank you, Ariana." He said softly.

"I'll see you back at camp, Will." She said a little tersely before heading for the outlaws' encampment.

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The next weeks were filled with making weapons, and improving the camp. More permanent buildings were built on the ground and high in the trees with ladders up to them and bridges connecting them. The refugees quickly became integrated into the life at the outlaw camp and Robin's leadership continued undisputed. Even Will was found helping out from time to time, though he still would quite often be found at river 'keeping an eye on his post' as he explained it.

Azeem assumed the task of teaching the peasants swordsmanship while Robin was the obvious candidate for the teaching of archery. Eager to be able to continue practice, Ariana lined up with the trainees, Robin had a doubtful look on his face and Will had the audacity to laugh, lightly fingering his scar. With a glare, Ariana fired, in quick succession, three arrows at the nearest target dummy, hitting it square in the center of the chest each time. She turned to Will with a smug smile on her face as she turned back to the target Ariana caught the surprised look on Robin's face and the downright stunned look on the faces of the other trainees. "This is a good bow." Ariana said, slinging it across the quiver she had strapped to her back and walked off.

Ariana stored her bow and arrows in her quarters, which was a room just large enough for sleeping and storing of a few objects and one wall was shared with the Little's cottage, it could get a little noisy with all the children, but most times they were well behaved. After quickly tying off a braid, Ariana made her way next door to the Little's. Ever since she had arrived in camp, Fanny, John's wife had decided that it was her job to mother Ariana. She was constantly fussing over Ariana, making sure she had enough food or blankets or some other such thing. She, in fact, reminded Ariana of Aunt Livia. And Ariana, in return, ran the odd favor or chore for Mrs. Little, goodness knew she had her hands full and enough to do, looking after her large brood of seven (with another on the way) children. The eldest being Wulf, already an outlaw at a young age.

Upon entering, Ariana found a bowl of stew and a chunk of bread shoved in her direction. "Eat, you are too small." Fanny insisted, to which Ariana smiled. She found it ironic that a family with the last name 'Little' was anything but. "When you are done eating, the wood pile is getting low." Fanny commented, already turning back to ladle more stew. Ariana devoured the delicious stew and munched contentedly on the still warm bread, then followed the gently dictated directions and headed into the woods to gather more firewood.

Ariana was enjoying herself, walking through a sunlit forest, trying to guess the names of the birds she heard, all the while gathering dry dead wood from the forest's floor. When she heard a shuffling noise coming from the bushes to her left. She whirled towards the noise, silently cursing herself for leaving her bow and arrows back at the camp, leaning against the wall just past the doorway to her room. Carefully, Ariana set down her burden, never taking her eyes off of the bushes, removed her wrist dagger and picked up a sturdy piece of wood from her accumulated pile of firewood. Crouching slightly, Ariana waited, but when nothing came from the underbrush she slowly crept forward, parting the branches with her firewood.

What she saw surprised her. With a smile, she sheathed her dagger. "Hey, you alright there?" she asked kindly to the little girl hugging her knees. The little girl's head lifted, her eyes red and tears streaming down her face.

She sniffed. "Mama won't get her berries," the little girl displayed a small basket filled to overflowing with fresh red berries. "they were supposed to be a surprise!" she had a slight lisp and her 'r's tended to be pronounced more like a 'w'.

"And where is mama?" Ariana asked, crouching down next to the girl.

"Back at camp. She told me not to leave. But I wanted to surprise her. Now I can't find my way back." She sniffed again and looked up at Ariana. "Do you think she'll be mad at me?"

Ariana looked at the wide green eyes brimming with tears and a face framed by nearly black ringlets. "No. She won't be." She rubbed the back of the little girl. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Arielle, and I'm this old!" she proudly held up one hand, now smiling through her tears.

"Well, Arielle, I happen to know the way back to camp. If you can carry that basket all by yourself, you can come with me, alright?"

"I'm not supposed to go anywhere with strangers." The small girl frowned.

"Well, my name is Ariana, and you already told me your name, so we are no longer strangers, are we?" Arielle thought for a moment then nodded her head vigorously, her curls bouncing at the movement. "OK, let me just get my firewood." Arielle waited, bouncing from one foot to the other while Ariana struggled to pick up her load and balance it on one arm without dropping any of it. She finally succeeded, Arielle happily grabbed the free hand that Ariana held out to her and they made their way back to camp.

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It was hard to miss Arielle's mother. The woman was hurrying about camp. Though her hair fell in waves instead of bouncing ringlets, it was the exact same shade of black as Arielle's and they shared the same intense green eyes. As soon as she spotted her daughter, she rushed up.

"Arielle, there you are. I thought I told you not to leave! What did you think you were doing? And all alone too!" the woman scolded.

"But I wasn't alone, mommy." Arielle protested, lower lip trembling. "Ana was with me."

"Ana? Who is Ana?" the woman asked and Arielle pointed to Ariana who was coming back from dropping off the wood to the Little's. "That's Ana, mommy."

"It's _Ari_ana, sweetie." She smiled at the little girl.

"You can call me Elle and I'll call you Ana, since our names start the same way!" Arielle beamed at this point, proud to show her observational skills.

"I guess I didn't think of it that way." Ariana smiled again, becoming enchanted by the little girl. Ariana then looked up at Arielle's mom. "Why don't you show mommy why you were in the woods, sweetie?"

"I got you berries, mommy!" Arielle proudly held up her basket, showing off the result of her morning excursion.

"You still should have not left camp." the young mother scolded and Arielle's eyes brimmed with tears.

"It's alright, Elle." Ariana soothed. "Mommy was just worried."

The mother rounded on Ariana. "Stay away from us. My daughter does not need the influence of a _gypsy_." She spat the last word out with venom, turning and walking away, towing her daughter behind herself, a few berries falling out of the girl's basket in her haste. Ariana, stunned, watched the two, Arielle kept glancing back with a mournful look until they turned a corner in what Ariana assumed was the way to their own house.

With a deep sigh, Ariana turned and bumped right into a chest, making her fall. "Ow." She complained with a wince before looking up.

"Not very coordinated today?" Will asked her with his trademark smirk.

"Help me up, you big buffoon." Will laughed and offered her a hand up. "How's your hand, Will?" Ariana asked, noticing that he was careful to offer her his left hand.

"It itches." He complained with a grimace and reached to scratch it. But Ariana grabbed his hand before he could.

"Don't." She commanded. "It's good it itches, means it's healing, but I don't want you to scratch it open. Now, come, sit and let me check it, it's been two days." She ordered leading him over to a log. He watched as she unwrapped it and examined the wound for a moment before speaking.

"It's not you, you know." He stated.

"What?" she asked glancing up at him.

"It's not you that Adele hates. She's hated gypsies since her husband ran off with one four years ago. She's had a hard time raising a baby on her own and any gypsy she comes across, especially a female one, becomes the one that stole her husband."

"Well that's just stupid. I'm not even a gypsy." Ariana said off handedly. "Try and make a fist."

"You're not?" Will asked, doing as she asked. "But I thought… well, we all thought…"

"My great grandpa was a Spaniard. I have been told I have his coloring." She shrugged and wrapped up his hand. "That looks good, I'll check it again in a couple of days. You'll probably be able to go without bandages then as long as you promise to keep it clean, and don't scratch at it. Right?" Will nodded as she picked up the dirty bandages. "I'll see what Fanny can do with these."

"Ariana!" Fanny greeted her with a smile when she walked into the Little's.

"Hi, Fanny. I have some old bandages." She held up the strips of cloth. "Though what you do with these dirty old things is beyond me." she sat down at the roughly hewn table.

"Why, I boil 'em!" Fanny exclaimed, accepting the bandages and adding then to a basket with other dirty rags.

"Boil?" Ariana wrinkled her nose. And eyed the pot over the fire, currently containing stew.

"Sure, cleans 'em right up, it does. No sense in 'em goin' ta waste, deary."

"True." Ariana agreed, letting her gaze roam over the inside of the little cottage. "Where's Wulf? I promised I'd help him with his archery."

"John took him on a raid."

"On a raid! Fanny!" Ariana jumped up from her seat.

"'E's old enough. John told me 'e'd 'ardly be a part of it a'tall."

"I still don't like it." Ariana passed a hand over her face before sinking back down onto the bench.

"Why, you look plumb tuckered out, deary. Why don' ya take some of the little ones and go to th' river?"

"You know, that does sound nice." Ariana smiled. "I'll go get them out of whatever trouble I'm sure they've gotten themselves into by now."

Fanny laughed. "Out you get, I'll finally get some work done 'round 'ere." Ariana laughed as Fanny nearly chased her out of the little dwelling.

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Well, now. That's it for now. Let me know what you think!


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